Page 121 of Brushed By Moonlight

We drew apart slowly, and Mina checked her watch. “You ready?”

Ready to go to hell and back for her, I realized.

“Ready.” I nodded.

Our eyes locked in one last, silent exchange. Then we set off, creeping along the wall. A few steps later, Mina slipped off to the left, while I continued toward the catering area. I glanced back twice. The first time, she was there, but the next, she was gone.

I kept walking, because I had no choice. The plan was in motion, and the clock was ticking.

Chapter Twenty-Six

MINA

Roux held the door to the dumbwaiter open, though his look was skeptical. “You sure about this?”

No, but for lack of a better plan…

I slipped off my heels and started folding myself into the dumbwaiter. “Just watch the door, please.”

We were in a storeroom in what had been the original part of the villa, before the superstructure had been updated and expanded. The dumbwaiter was just as old — a vintage wooden model that ran on a pulley system. The minute I transferred my weight into the tiny elevator, it creaked. I froze, then continued more slowly, pulling in one leg, then the other. Roux had knocked out the shelf in the middle of the compartment, but it was still a tight fit.

My mind filled with second thoughts. It was bad enough that I had become a mercenary and thief for the night. Now I was addingcontortionistto the list. How on earth had I gotten myself into this?

“Just focus,” I muttered to myself.

Roux gave me a foul look that said,I’m always focused. I know no other state.

I had no doubt, and I told him as much. “I meant me. Anyway, I’m ready. Send me up, please. And listen for my signal.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Let me hear it again.”

I rapped my knuckles on the inner panel — once, twice, then two quicker knocks in succession.

He nodded, though he didn’t make a move. He just stood there exuding pessimism.

“Not a word,” I warned him.

If his brow furrowed any more deeply, he would injure himself.

“I get that this is important to you…” he started.

“Those are words. Lots of them,” I grumbled.

He went on, regardless. “But I’m weighing your wishes up against the pain Marius will inflict on me if you get caught.”

“Just send me up, dammit!” I tried to gesture to emphasize the point but only succeeded in banging my elbow.

Roux pushed my right knee in and took up the slack in the rope that raised and lowered the dumbwaiter.

“Okay. Hang on,” he said quietly.

My breath caught when the dumbwaiter lurched into motion, and it took everything I had not to shoutStop! Forget it!

“Watch your dress. And your knee,” he hissed, all annoyed. Likehewas the one in the damn thing.

I pulled on the fabric, doing what I could in my two-inch range of motion. Roux kept hauling the rope, hand over hand, and the storeroom began to sink beneath me. I looked up, counting the seconds.

Fancy villas, I learned, were nowhere near as fancy from the inside. Open brickwork and wiring slid past, and I clutched my dress even more tightly. The dim light from the storeroom died out the farther I went, making space seem to shrink. The walls gradually closed in on me like an undersized coffin.